


No Place for the Living

by Vagrant_Blvrd



Series: Beyond the Horizon [1]
Category: Destiny (Video Games), Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-29 04:25:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18218183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vagrant_Blvrd/pseuds/Vagrant_Blvrd
Summary: Even before the Tower fell, Gavin found himself spending more and more time in the wilds.





	No Place for the Living

**Author's Note:**

> _Another_ Destiny crossover AU from me because I've been playing the game a lot recently??? Takes place after the events in the Forsaken expansion for _Destiny 2_. (Spoilers for that if you haven’t played it/plan to in the future I guess???)
> 
> Gavin’s a Gunslinger running Way of a Thousand Cuts because solar queen??? (Also, molten knives that explode.) Ryan’s a Striker running Code of the Earthshaker because boom. I was going to go with their in-game classes/subclasses but they switcharoo them in the videos a lot, so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Even before the Tower fell, Gavin found himself spending more and more time in the wilds. 

The confusion surrounding Cayde-6’s death and the slow, lingering fallout sent him further and further from the City and growing tensions in the Tower.

People looking to the Titans and Warlocks and short roster of names for their Vanguard representatives and the long, long one belonging the Hunters. (The knowing looks tossed about because of course it would be the hunter Vanguard who’d manage to get himself killed.)

The sidelong looks he and other Hunters tended to get these days, the empty space in the Tower hangar Cayde had claimed as his own. 

The noise and bustle of a the hangar and others so mystified at Cayde for choosing to set up shop there. (No one bothering to think about the way Guardians were always in and out there, gossip and news picks up by the workers who’d grown an odd sort of fondness for Cayde. Brought him snatches of gossip and rumors they’d over heard with the way Guardians tended to dismiss the civilians in their midst while going about their own business.)

Growing unrest with the Hunters as a whole now they were without a Vanguard mentor, Zavala becoming grimmer after Cayde’s death. Ikora becoming more distant again.

While other Guardians flocked to the Tangled Shore and Dreaming City in search of new loot, rewards for their actions, Gavin turned to the EDZ.

Often overlooked in favor of more distant destinations.

“It’s quieter out here, innit?” Gavin asks, glancing at his Ghost as she spins through a waterfall, arms flung out to wash the last of the mud and sludge off from crawling through another cave. “Peaceful.”

In the distance, the cry of a Fallen Captain sounds, loud and guttural, distance and the steep walls of the valley they’re in distorting it into some nightmare sound.

His Ghost shakes off, flinging water droplets towards him with a little snort of amusement.

“Oh, yes,” she says, giving herself on last good shake. “It’s lovely out here.”

The EDZ still sees its share of Guardians, it’s true, but for the most part they’re merely passing through. Pick up a handful of bounties from Devrim in exchange for a bit of glimmer and planetary materials they need to upgrade their weapons and armor and gone again the moment they’re done.

It’s understandable, with the need for Guardian presence elsewhere in the system, but there’s something about it that fascinates Gavin. 

Human home world and all that, yes, but there’s something more that keeps him here. Has him headed deeper into the EDZ away from well-traveled paths his fellow Guardians tend to stick to on their way to richer destinations.

He’s not sure what something is, but hopes he’ll figure it out one of these days.

For now - 

Gavin makes a decent attempt to clean off the water his Ghost hit him with, with his gloves absolutely filthy from the cave, all he manages to do is make a mess of it. 

There’s a slight hiss of displaced air as he breaks the seals, and the smells of the forest around them rushes in.

Wet dirt and mud, rotting greenery. Lingering scent of flowering plants and other green things he’s yet to find anywhere else.

Feels the last bit of tension drain out of him as his Ghost goes flutters about, curious about the relics and knickknacks they’ve retrieved from another old stash.

Bits and bobs, a half-finished blueprint for a weapon that looks promising enough he might try his hand at sweet talking Banshee into forging for him when he heads back to the Tower.

They’re safe enough for the moment, traps and tripmines laid out around the perimeter of their camp for anyone hoping to sneak up on them. Gavin’s Ghost is scanning for trouble as well, and he trusts her to alert him if something does sneak past his traps.

His Ghost lets out a startled gasp and spins around to face him, shining brighter over some discovery or other.

“Do you know what this is?” she asks, flitting back to hover over some odd bit of technology he’d taken along on a whim. 

“Shiny bit of tech, yeah?” Gavin asks, stifling a grin at the excitement in her voice and the look she levels on him for his lack of same.

“ _Heathen_ ,” she hisses, and Gavin bites back a laugh as she launches another lecture about Golden Age technology and so on and so on and so on while he sets about checking over his armor after their latest adventure.

========

Out here, there are no patrol beacons.

Deemed too dangerous for Guardians to just wander about poking through debris for parts and components. Too risky to hunt down stolen supplies, no matter how badly they’re needed. No reason to put Guardians at risk so deep into the EDZ when there were easier targets closer to Guardian-held territory.

No.

Gavin sets up his own patrol routes out here. Plots a path that allows him to sort through tangled piles of debris and rusting wreckage the Fallen haven’t completely picked clean with his Ghost's help. Collects planetary materials Tower vendors need to manufacture this thing or than without worrying about taking it out from under some other Guardian’s nose. Tracks bandits and thieves back to their hideouts to recover stolen supplies or other shipments.

Thins the ranks of Fallen forces getting a little too bold near Trostland. Targets Cabal patrols who get to close to the Farm. Crawls through caves and dense forest to investigate rumors of Taken sightings.

Few enough Guardians out this way most days. (No patrol beacons means no real reason to go tromping about out here without reward or compensation at the end of it.)

“Do you hear that?”

Gavin’s Ghost flits out from cover in his hood and zips closer to the edge of the cliff they’re approaching. Glances back at him in impatience as he follows, sliding his sniper rifle off his shoulder as he does.

When he reaches the cliff’s edge he can hear the sounds of fighting. Fallen weapons and the sharp, angry bark of a hand cannon.

Looking down on the scene below him he can just glimpse Fallen forces closing in on a lone target.

Titan in mud-splattered armor, spent weapons at his feet and a hand canon in his hands.

Gavin’s Ghost make a low noise of concern as she creeps closer to the cliff edge, dropping lower to make less of a target of herself. 

There’s a trail of dead Fallen leading back to a series of mining tunnels nearby, a Dead Zone they had plans to explore later.

“Looks like they beat us to it,” Gavin murmurs, bringing his sniper rifle to bear.

Gavin’s Ghost hums in agreement, and looks back at him, because it’s equally clear the poor bastard may have bitten off more than he can chew. (Or punch, as the case may be.)

Their assistance may not be appreciated, but the bastard’s far too outnumbered for them to just stand aside and watch.

(Gavin may prefer working on his own out here, but he knows the value in working as a team against their common enemies.)

He zeroes in on a Vandal sniper set up on the roof of a building at the outer edge of the clearing where the Titan’s chosen to make his stand.

Deliberately just out of range of a hand canon, but well within that of a wire rifle.

Inhale, exhale, and pull of the trigger.

The gunshot echoes, masks their location long enough for Gavin to pick off a few more Fallen before they hone in on the cliff.

Gavin’s Ghost flickers out of sight, tucks herself away safe and as Gavin runs, switching out his sniper rifle for his bow as he works his way down the cliff to provide the Titan with covering fire.

The Fallen swarm the Titan, Vandals and Dregs, a handful of Shanks hovering just out of the Titan’s reach and deadly with their damned turrets.

Gavin’s taking as many of them down as he can with his bow, but there’s just too many to make much of a dent.

He’s reaching for the burning spark of Light within him, warm and familiar and spilling over ready to be called on - 

When he feels the shift in the air around them, sharp scent of ozone and dives behind a boulder for over just as the Titan unleashes his super.

A roar of rage amplified by the arc energy surging through the Titan and the sound of lightning crashing as the ground shakes.

Gavin peeks out from cover to see the Titan staring down a Fallen Captain, arc energy sparking off the Titan’s armor and this presence to him that makes the Captain look small in comparison.

A moment, space between breaths, and the Titan charges the Captain with a yell.

Gavin trusts the Titan knows what he’s doing and turns his attention to the Fallen forces remaining after the Titan’s Fist of Havoc.

More manageable numbers this time around, and rightfully wary after seeing what a Guardian with an active super is capable of.

They’ve also forgotten about the Guardian who killed their snipers, and Gavin manages to take out their Shanks before they register his presence.

He staggers a Vandal with a shot when the bastard tries to roll out of the way, and makes a desperate shot that hits another in the knee while it’s taking aim at the Titan’s back with its shock rifle as the Titan’s super bleeds away to reveal the dead Captain crumpled at his feet.

There’s a pause as the remaining Fallen process the death of their leader and Gavin reaches for another arrow, waiting to see what the Titan will do next. 

Silence falls, almost deafening after the pandemonium mere moments before.

The Fallen look between themselves nervously, unsure what to do with their leader dead and a pair of Guardians to contend with.

The Titan draws his hand cannon, back still to them as he draws his hand cannon and looks at them, head cocked just so.

“Who’s next?”

========

The irony of running into Guardians this far out from their usual haunts is that there’s no knowing if they’re the friendly sort. 

Always hope it’ll be a Guardian in search of a forgotten loot stash or those like Gavin who feel more comfortable away from the City and Tower politics. (Dread coming up against the ones running around using Dredgen Yor’s name like a badge of honor.)

The Titan’s a big bastard, even without the ridiculous shoulder pauldrons Titans as a whole seem to favor. 

Gavin watches him come closer, hand cannon holstered but his Ghost – like Gavin’s – is nowhere to be seen.

Keenly aware of what happened with Cayde’s Sundance, Ghosts are being more careful these days, and Gavin can’t fault them for it.

“That was a hell of a shot you made,” the Titan says, head tipped back to take in the cliff high above them and back around to the Vandal sniper’s former perch.

Gavin shrugs, nervous energy and natural caution running through him.

He could take the Titan it if comes down to it.

Call on the solar Light running through him and cast a Blade Barrage, and if the bastard’s still standing after that he’s got his usual weapon close to hand.

Nowhere near helpless here, especially so soon after the Titan used his own super.

But the Titan isn’t making any overtly threatening moves, seems more curious than anything else as to what Gavin’s doing out here.

“Well, I am a sniper,” Gavin says, because hell if he knows how to reply to that. “But thank you.”

The Titan studies him for a long moment, and laughs. This quiet little huff of laughter as he looks around them.

Dead Fallen and torn up ground. Sand turned to glass in places, and scorched earth.

Other Fallen will come looking for this group sooner or later, and there are other scavengers out there looking for anything they can salvage.

It would be a good idea to move on before them to avoid getting caught up in another fight when the Titan’s looking a bit tattered.

“There’s a good spot to set up camp not too far to the east,” Gavin says, spot he and his Ghost passed earlier. “If you don’t have one yourself, that is.”

The Titan cocks his head again, Gavin lifts his chin. (Sets his feet, ready to fight because that’s what this life is about, innit?)

“That…” the Titan says, exhaustion he’s working so hard to find bleeding into his voice. “That sounds nice, actually.”

A pause, the Titan coming to some sort of decision before he holds his hand out to Gavin.

“I’m Ryan,” he says, and to Gavin’s surprise his Ghost pops into place beside him. Ryan snorts, glancing at the cheeky little thing. “And this is Reggie.”

Gavin shakes Ryan’s hand, and hears more than sees his own Ghost flicker into sight with a bit of fanfare. 

“Gavin,” he says, and nods to his Ghost. “And that’s Bauble.”

It had been a dumb little joke at the time having to do with accents and misunderstandings and Gavin strangely insistent on explaining it to his Ghost. (The strike where everything went wrong and Gavin woke to his Ghost telling his fireteam to call her Bauble while they hid in the shelter of a crashed ship.)

Ryan seems taken aback at the name, and it seems Reggie is also at a loss as he blinks at Gavin and Bauble in confusion.

“’Bobble’, the Titan says, and seems bewildered when Bauble laughs, high and chiming and utterly amused.

“It’s a long story,” Gavin says, settling his cloak in place. “I could tell it to you on the way?”

Ryan and Reggie are giving them the sort of looks they’ve gotten at the Tower or idly roaming the City’s streets.

Hunter and Ghost without their mentor and lost for it, while their own mentors start to crack under the pressure of their position and blind to all of it, no.

They’re looking at them like they’re any other Guardian and their cheeky little Ghost, and it’s honestly refreshing. 

Ryan laughs, nudging Reggie with his shoulder when the Ghost continues to stare.

“Well now I think we both need to hear it, if you don’t mind a couple of tagalongs.”

Bauble darts around Gavin’s head to settle into her favorite spot inside the hood of his cloak to settle against his neck, her own personal seal of approval when it comes to Ryan and Reggie.

“Of course not,” Gavin says, checking to make sure Bauble’s secure before heading out. “The more the merrier and all that.”

Gavin didn’t plan on running across another Guardian when he set out that morning, but it gets lonely out this far even with Bauble for company. 

Might not be a bad thing to share stories with another Guardian and his Ghost wandering the wilderness like them.


End file.
